IndyCar has cancelled this week's test of its new car, which was to take place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, the track at which the British driver Dan Wheldon was killed on Sunday. Dallara, the Italian manufacturer of the chassis, has announced it will name the car after Wheldon in tribute to him, while the president of the Las Vegas oval circuit has defended the venue amid further criticism from drivers. In addition, the CEO of the IndyCar series, Randy Bernard, may face legal action.

Dario Franchitti, who won the series for the fourth time this year when Sunday's race was abandoned after the 15-car crash, was due to test the new car, which is to run in the 2012 season, on Wednesday and Thursday. The Scottish driver, who had said he was "struggling to hold it together" in the wake of the death of his friend, is part of the Target Chip Ganassi racing team who announced they will still test the car but later in the year. The news was welcomed by his wife, the actor Ashley Judd, who said on Twitter: "I appreciate IndyCar cancelling my husband's test at Las Vegas track. The new car needs development – but not now, and never again there."

Wheldon, who won the Indy 500 after taking the lead on the last corner of the final lap in May but had been without a regular drive this season, had spent the second half of the year developing the car for Dallara. The current chassis dates back to 2000 and the new car was to incorporate additional safety features, on which Wheldon had been working. Most importantly it was to include bodywork to prevent cars being launched into the air when the rear wheels are struck from behind, a fundamental factor in sending Wheldon's car into the catch fencing at Las Vegas.

The manufacturer's chairman, Gianpaolo Dallara, said: "Dan lives in the memory of everybody at Dallara. He has been a true champion; not only because of his many victories, but above everything else because he has been a true and warm man to all the people he encountered."

Twice winner of the Indy 500 and series champion in 2005, Wheldon took all 16 of his wins in Dallara machinery, a fact the company wanted to honour. "All people at Dallara always enjoyed meeting him in Italy and in the USA," Dallara said. "We will honour his memory for the years to come by dedicating the Dallara IndyCar 2012 in his name. He deserves that." The company has yet to announce the precise designation of the car.

Meanwhile, the president of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chris Powell, has denied that there was concern over whether it was appropriate to hold a 34-car race on the one-and-a-half-mile circuit, after receiving considerable criticism. "When drivers have concerns, I think 99% of the time those concerns are expressed to the sanctioning body," he said. "If those concerns were expressed in this instance, certainly it was not to me.

"We as a speedway make sure we provide a venue that they come in and make an assessment when they're ready to race, and they did that exact thing. Our speedway conforms to every regulation that any sanctioning body has ever held it to, and we're very proud of that."

However, Franchitti commented in the aftermath of the race that he was one of many drivers who had concerns. "I said before we tested here, having driven a stock car here, that this is not a suitable track and we've seen it today. You can't get away from anybody, there's no way to differentiate yourself from a car or driver," he argued.

"You are just stuck there and people get frustrated and go four wide and you saw what happened, one small mistake from somebody and it's a massive thing."

The driver on pole for the race, Tony Kanaan, had expressed similar opinions, although it is not known whether they were aired to organisers before the meeting. "When you are asking for a track like this with the cars that we have it's a potential for disaster," he said afterwards. "You have some guys getting excited out there when we are racing so close. One mistake can take 15 people out, and that's what happened there."

The questions and criticism of Powell are unlikely to stop, while IndyCar's CEO, Bernard, has also come under fire amid accusations of sacrificing safety in a bid for popularity. Bernard has aggressively marketed IndyCar since taking over almost two years ago, including the $5m (£3.2m) prize for driving from last place to first, which Wheldon was attempting to win on Sunday. He also introduced side-by-side restarts after safety car periods so that the cars would be wheel-to-wheel from the off, saying at the time: "Danger will be an important element of the sport."

These comments may come under further scrutiny as legal experts in America expect investigations into recklessness or negligence.

Gary Roberts, dean of the Indiana University School of Law, told the New York Daily News that he wouldn't be surprised "if lawsuits were filed against everyone involved – the IndyCar Series, the Las Vegas track, the people who make the engines, the people who made the walls. They will throw the kitchen sink at everybody and see what they can dig up in discovery."

IndyCar's own investigation is not likely to deliver a full report soon, a statement saying: "We hope to have preliminary findings to report within the next several weeks."

It explained: "As part of our standard safety protocol, a full investigation has been launched by IndyCar, with assistance from the Automobile Competition Committee of the United States (Accus) and Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the national and international governing organisations, to determine the factors involved in this accident." A memorial service for Wheldon will be held on 23 October at the Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.